


Get that Mink Coat on your expensive floor

by convenience



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Alcohol, Communism, F/F, Silly Lesbians, ada the fighter, also! good brother tom who is in support of his gays, jessie is a sass queen, marxism, soft drunk babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 12:06:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18388124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/convenience/pseuds/convenience
Summary: Ada has a mink coat. Jessie wants it off.This is more of an Ada character study than anything, but I really hope you enjoy!





	Get that Mink Coat on your expensive floor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darkandstormyslash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkandstormyslash/gifts).



> I really hope you enjoy this! If not, let me know, and we can talk about it :)

“Ironic, don’t you think?” 

Ada turns to the voice, mink coat wrapped securely around her body as she sits in the back of the Socialist Worker Party meeting, wondering when voices from Digbeth meetings were ever that, well, like hers. Dripping in sarcasm and full of judgement. It made her skin burn in a wonderful way. “What’s that meant to mean?”

“I mean, it’s a bit ironic that you speak at all these, about the rich, about poverty, about being working class, and you do it all in a mink coat and those heels that could pay my rent for six months.” The dark haired woman chided again, and it make Ada smirk - nothing excited her more than opposition, than strong ideas, than harsh truths (even if they make her cry when she gets home). Ada sees a fight.

“My brother is a shit gift giver and a class traitor - everything I wear that you could scrutinise for not being ‘cheap’ enough is from him. I wasn’t aware an ideological belief was owned by a class, that sounds a little like gatekeeping to me, miss…?” Ada asked, sending her a scathing look.

“Jessie Thorne. We can’t all afford to have designer clothes for our birthdays, and if we could, I reckon we’d sell it or burn it at people like your brother’s door steps. Being complicit makes you part of the issue, does it not?” Jessie replied, judging the woman fairly easily. Ada narcissistically wondered if Jessie had been watching her for a while.

“You know what goes on in my family, do you?” Ada asked, rolling her eyes at the woman. “You have no idea what happens behind closed doors, miss Jessie Eden.”

“Oh, but I've met your brother upon many an occasion, and I know what he's like. You're exactly the same, by the way. Cocky, sarcastic, annoyingly attractive. It gets repetitive, honestly. You speak better, I'll give you that.” Jessie told her, capturing her attention and heart in her hands as she spoke, molding it into clay shapes.

Ada was on strings to say the least. Jessie had just pinned her down with her darkest insecurities and made it sound so pretty. “I'm a better fuck than my brother, without the pleasure of thinking that my cunt can solve the world. So, are you one of Tommy's business ventures, then? I'll save you the joy of finding it out painfully - he doesn't love you, he just loves the money he'll betray you for.”

“Ah, there we go again. Enjoy your faux socialism, hopefully it goes well with your authentic mink coat.” Jessie whispered in her ear and got up, walking to the bar. Throughout the night, Ada kept catching her eye, but never did Jessie acknowledge her.

The next meeting she goes to, she makes sure to leave the mink coat at home. Ada does, however, wear her designer boots. They're comfier than mattresses and work has made Ada pent up, so she's searching for someone to bounce back off of. It was easier as a child, because she'd just find someone and punch them and win. Now, however, she has to do things with an element of snide and eloquence, because most men could deck her if she wasn’t out for murder - she’d since gained a moral compass and decided maybe people shouldn’t die in fights with her. Teenage Ada was not so lenient.

“Can’t help yourself, can you, Ada?” 

Oh, that voice again, and Ada’s heart soars. She’s already jittery, now eagerly egging on a fight in her head. Sometimes she pondered why she was so attracted to violence, and then she remembered who she was and the fact that she owned more weapons than cookbooks. Jessie sat down beside her at the back table, knee lightly brushing hers as the woman crossed one leg over the other, glaring at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry, has the fascination of me not worn off yet?” She replied cockily, turning her body slightly to Jessie, sipping on her whiskey. “Or are you simply bored?” 

“Ada, Ada, Ada… Have you not yet realised that the world doesn’t revolve around you? Or do you just really enjoy the idea that I’m obsessed with you? Must be lonely in that big, expensive house, huh? Pity.” Jessie teases, and it’s only then does she look properly at Ada. “What happened to the mink coat? It looked good on you, you know.”

Ada is speechless, so she follows her older brother’s tips and lights a cigarette. She draws in and puffs out rings, hollowing her cheeks. “Someone reminded me of the reason I stopped talking to my brother, and the reason I was in love with Freddie.”

“Apart from the sex?” Jessie adds, making Ada laugh. Jessie had been incredibly good friends with the Communist in question, and had heard him talk about Ada like she was an angel. At first, Jessie was of the opinion that Ada was just a priss living like rapunzel in the Shelby tower, and she still was, really, but a side of her was coming out that she quite enjoyed. Hopefully Freddie wouldn’t mind.

“Apart from the sex.” Ada nodded, rolling her eyes, unable to help herself from relaxing a little “I sold the coat and donated the money to the Socialist Worker Party. Should go towards the publications and meeting halls.” That was a lie, though. A massive, massive lie. She had put the coat in the cupboard and donated the money she would have gotten from selling it anonymously to the party.

“Ah, no doubt you’ll have a hall named after you, then. I work at the King James’ Junior School, I had the pleasure of teaching your son. It’s surprising that he’s not an arse, he’s actually quite polite. Did you raise him? He didn’t even fight anyone.” Jessie asks softly, deciding to continue the conversation even as the speaker began.

Ada beams. It’s a genuine smile, and it makes Jessie weak in the knees. “Karl is definitely my son. He picks his battles better than I did, that’s all. Plus, Shelby tradition - they don’t learn how to gouge until they hit middle school. So, a teacher, huh? I would have thought someone like yourself hated children.”

“Just because I like to pick up on the fact that you act like one doesn’t mean that I despise the little arseholes.” Jessie reminded her, looking over at the speaker “If I had known that he was speaking I wouldn’t have came.”

“Ah, shit.” Ada groaned quietly, wanting to bang her head off of the weirdly sticky table “Why do they invite him?”

“I think he just shows up.” Jessie snarked, downing her drink “Your kid at home?”

“No, he’s with his uncle. Why?” Ada asked, finishing hers and stubbing out her cigarette. “Wanna ditch the meeting and go back to mine? I have an untouched liquor cabinet.” Now Ada has thrown herself for a loop, something she’s incredibly good at doing, it seems. She wants Jessie to come home with her, and yet she has no idea why.

“Not untouched for long. Let’s go.” Jessie nodded towards the door, getting up and sliding her leather jacket back on. She’ll wonder about what Freddie thinks later, but right now she has no idea what’s going to be left untouched and what isn’t. At the very least she’ll be drinking expensive liquor, which is a rarity.

“Come on then, my car’s out the back.” Ada smiled, linking her arm and ducking through the room and going through the backdoor. She felt like a teenager again, sneaking through doors and blushing when fingers brushed.

“Is this where I find out that you’ve got a fucking Bentley? I will set it on fire, just by principal.” Jessie explained as she closed the door behind her, looking at Ada with a dangerous grin.

“Luckily for me, I do not own a Bentley.” Ada laughed, opening her car door. “Go on, get in.”

By the time Ada and Jessie have time to breathe in between laughing so hard they cry and doing shots off of various counters in Ada’s living room - Jessie made a joke, Ada turned it into a dare - They lay on the floor, a record playing, a bottle of wine between them, occasionally passed.

“Have you got a thing for activists, Ada?” Jessie asks softly, the modest grandfather clock in the corner striking twelve. Their faces are inches away and Jessie is noticing things that she’d simply brushed off before.

“Must do, hadn’t I? Fell in love with a communist, named my son after a philosopher, keep looking to fucking Socialist Worker Party meetings to meet someone. Look at me, Jessie, I’m twenty eight, a single mother, and I’m not socialist enough for the socialists but too socialist for the rest of them.” Ada rambled, taking a long swig of the wine bottle and then handing it back to Jessie. 

“Woah, princess Shelby, where’d that come from?” Jessie chuckles, using her fingertip to brush a stray chunk of hair from Ada’s face. “Is this going to be the part where you have a breakdown and vomit on your expensive carpet and I help you when I’ve stopped laughing?”

“No! Maybe?” Ada protests with a pout, “I’m just emotional. Anyway, enjoy drunk Ada because she says a lot of things that I wouldn’t. You’re not as bitchy as you make yourself seem, you know.”

“Must be a bold claim, that, coming from a Shelby. You’re the kings and queens of being guarded and hurting people you like - just hurting people, really. Freddie used to tell me how lovely you were, how beautiful.” Jessie rolled her eyes at her own words, wishing she hadn’t brought her best friend up. Her best friend, whom she missed every time she sat at one of those fucking meetings. Her best friend, who would probably be the biggest mood killer possible in the world in this situation.

“I loved Freddie, Jessie. I loved him. So much. I like to think that he loved me.” Ada hummed softly, closing her eyes for a second. “But he didn’t know a lot about me. He really didn’t. We’d never lived together, he’d never seen me fight, we’d never fought. I would have liked to keep him, for Karl if anyone. That’s not how the world works, though, and I changed because I had someone to protect, and if it meant dropping my activism? For Karl, anything.”

“Ada… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. Freddie was a friend of mine, an extremely good friend of mine. Hurt more than anything when we lost him.” Jessie sighed, getting closer to her on the carpet and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “But he wouldn’t want you to be unhappy, would he? Certainly wouldn’t want you to be a capitalist, hell.”

That made Ada laugh, and Jessie was able to let out a large sigh. Night not ruined, then.

“He’d be glad to know what a lad his son’s grown to be, that’s for sure.” Ada told her with a nod “Anyway. I don’t want to be sad. Tell me something funny. Ex partners?”

“Once slept with a girl who raised Staffie Puppies for a living, and one of them bit me because she was being.. Vocal in bed, and thought I was attacking her,” Jessie sat up and hitched her top up to show a large scar on her lip “This scar is from falling off a chair at a meeting but how cool would it be if it was from that?”

Ada dissolved into laughter, grinning up at Jessie from her position on the carpet. She looked at the woman and then hummed for a second “C’mere, Jess.”

“Hm?” Jessie asked, confused, but doing it anyway. She put her forearms either side of Ada’s head, straddling her hips. “Whatcha want, princess?”

“You’re so fucking pretty.” Ada told her softly, her breath smelling like wine - slightly gross, but Jessie was too inebriated to care. She reached up to place a hand on Jessie’s cheek. “Even if you try to be mean, you’re not. You’re just strong.”

“Well, do you like strong women?” Jessie asked with a smirk, keening at her touch. 

“As much as I like Mink coats.” Ada replied, gently pulling her down and pressing her lips to Jessie’s. It was drunken and messy, but Jessie reciprocated all the same, kissing her fiercely. 

Jessie was too drunk to think about it properly, but not too drunk to remember. Ada, however, was almost asleep when they broke away.

When Ada opened her eyes, she and Jessie were lying on the floor. The strange thing was, she couldn’t remember putting the blanket over the both of them. The brown haired girl was still asleep next to her, protecting her with her arms.

“Mornin’ Ada. Karl’s at that shit’s birthday party. I came to drop his stuff off. I see you’ve met Jessie.” Tommy hummed, looking at the mess and the shot glasses. “So, I’ll talk to you about this in a bit. Want me to pick Karl up and tell him you’re ill whilst you sort this out?”

“You’re a godsend sometimes. Why can’t you always be like this?” Ada grinned at him from her position on the floor. “I’ll see you in a bit! Tell Alfie I said hi,”

“Alright,” Tommy choked out, leaving somewhat urgently.

Ada took a second to herself, wondering where the little wine stain on her carpet came from, why she smelt like vodka, and most importantly - how she managed to end up curled up with Jessie Eden on her living room floor. She slowly pulled herself up, standing slowly, doing her best not to disturb the snoring woman under the blanket. 

Once she was able to stand without feeling like she’d been thrown down Watery Lane in a shoebox, Ada realised she had no idea of what to do. She’d literally never been in that position before, surprisingly, and Ada had a feeling going down Tommy’s route wouldn’t help much. Ada loved her brother, but it was very obvious that he was a wreck when it came to matters of the heart.

“Fucking hell, my head is pounding.” Jessie groaned, breaking Ada’s train of thought and reaching a hand out “Help me up, then.”

Ada stuck her hand out and took Jessie’s, pulling her up to her feet. “Want some painkillers? I have no idea how much we drank last night.”

“I would love some, you beaut.” Jessie nodded, rubbing her forehead.

“Breakfast?” Ada asked, leading her to the kitchen, still holding her hand “Come on, come on.”

“You can cook? Don’t you have a maid?” Jessie teased, closing her eyes as she leant on a counter. “Breakfast would be brilliant, thank you.”

“I refused to let Tommy hire any.” Ada hummed, no real hangover effecting her. She supposed it was a Shelby trait, and a blessing it was. “Eggs and bacon?”

Once Ada had managed to cook breakfast and Jessie had necked all the painkillers that Ada would let her, they had eaten on the living room floor on crossed legs. They had giggled through recountings of the night, the shots, the shared wine bottles.

“Tell you what, you’re not insufferable, Princess Shelby.” Jessie told her as they stood by Ada’s front door, a taxi waiting outside to take Jessie back to her little apartment in the south of the city.

“Not too bad yourself, Jessie.” Ada replied, running a hand through her hair. “Are you free on Tuesday?” She asked, the words coming out quicker than she could think them.

“I am. Are you asking me out?” Jessie asked, her hands clenching and unclenching in her coat pockets.

“I am. Let me cook you something?” Ada asked softly, grinning as Jessie nodded.

“Sure. Don’t burn it, princess.” Jessie nodded, opening the door. She kissed Ada’s cheek softly, and then disappeared down the steps of the house.

As soon as the door closed, Ada slid down the wall and laughed hollowly. It was out of shock, really, more than anything. A hand on her cheek, she got up and began to rearrange the furniture so that the wine stain would be covered. 

When Karl and Tommy arrived, Ada was giddy. She made an attempt to hide it, knowing that Karl was still a boy, and the thought of her seeing anyone but his dad might be jarring. Especially as he’d never get the chance to meet his father. Luckily Karl was too preoccupied with eating his slice of the birthday cake to notice how his mum dragged his favourite uncle into the kitchen.

“Someone’s happy. So, am I going to have to have Jessie Eden at Christmas dinner? You couldn’t pick someone a little less bitey, could you? Then again, it’s you.” Tommy hummed, resisting the urge to light a cigarette - Ada had a strict no cigarettes in the house rule. She thought the smoke was bad for Karl’s lungs, and the rule really pissed Tommy off.

“I’m going to cook Jessie dinner on Tuesday.” Ada told him, running a hand through her hair and tying it into a small bun at the back of her head.

“I’ll make sure the fire ambulance are prepared, if that’s what you’re asking.” He teased, drinking his tea. “Need someone to babysit? Alfie loves the kid, you know. To be fair, I don’t think he’s that bad either.” 

“Yes, please. I’m glad you’re impartial to your nephew, because you’re his favourite uncle.” Ada rolled her eyes “Anyway, don’t tell him I’m on a date, yeah?”  
“Alright. I’ll pick him up at three, gives you time to cook and look semi presentable. Do communists like looking presentable?” Tommy asked rhetorically, setting his cup in the sink and washing it out.

“No, apparently. We first started talking because she just had to point out how expensive that coat you got me was.” Ada hummed. “Told her I threw it out,”

“Ah, yes - lies, the perfect way to build a relationship.” He mocked, giving her an attempt at a hug and then walking out, saying goodbye to Karl.

“Always has to have the last word, complete bastard.”


End file.
